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Pinarayi Vijayan

About Pinarayi Vijayan

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Who is Pinarayi Vijayan?

Pinarayi Vijayan is an Indian politician and the current chief minister of Kerala. Serving since May 12, 2016, Vijayan is the 12th CM of the state. He is a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and served as the secretary of the Kerala State Committee of the CPI(M) from 1998 to 2015, which made his tenure the longest ever. He had also served in the Kerala government prior to his current stint. He was the Minister of Electric Power and Co-operatives from 1996 to 1998 in the Kerala government. In the May 2021 Kerala elections, Vijayan won as the CPI(M) candidate from Dharmadom constituency.
Born on May 24, 1945 in Pinarayi village of Malabar district in Madras Presidency, Vijayan was the youngest son of Koran and Kalyani. He had a total of 14 siblings of which only 3 survived. Soon after graduating from college, Vijayan started working as a handloom weaver for a year before joining pre–university course in the Government Brennen College, Thalassery. He earned his BA Economics degree from the same college.  
 
Vijayan is married to Kamala Vijayan, who is a retired teacher. The couple has two children, Vivek Kiran and T Veena.
 
Political career
 
He started his political career through student politics in Government Brennen College, Thalassery. He later joined the CPI(M) in 1964. He became the district secretary of the Kerala Students Federation (KSF), which later became the Students Federation of India (SFI). Later, he also served as the secretary and the state president of KSF. He then joined the Kerala State Youth Federation, which became the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). He was prisoned for one and half year as during that time communists were organising political activities from hide-outs. He was also arrested and tortured during the period of Emergency.
 
He went on to become the president of the Kerala Co-Op Bank. He was also the Kannur district secretary of the CPI(M) when M V Raghavan left the party over the 'alternative document' row. Vijayan was elected to the politburo in 2002. In 2016, he became the CM of Kerala and held the portfolio of Home Affairs & Vigilance Departments along with few others.
 
In his tenure as the CM of Kerala, Vijayan has faced many issues beginning from Nipah, coronavirus pandemic, floods, Sabrimala Temple judgment, and allegations of scam. In 2021, Vijayan-led LDF  retained power in Kerala by bettering its 2016 tally and by breaking the state’s dreaded record of voting out every incumbent regime for the past 40 years. He was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Kerala for the second time in a row on May 20, 2021.

Latest Updates on Pinarayi Vijayan

Chief Minister Vijayan pointed out that the Centre's stance deviates from the general VGF guidelines, which classify it as a one-time grant, not a repayable loan

Updated On: 14 Dec 2024 | 2:29 PM IST

Collaboration between Kerala and Tamil Nadu is a testament to cooperative federalism said CM

Updated On: 12 Dec 2024 | 3:04 PM IST

Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan slammed govt after visiting the recently vandalised new Congress booth committee office at Venduttayi near Vijayan's hometown of Pinarayi

Updated On: 11 Dec 2024 | 12:46 PM IST

The VGF is contributed by both the state and union governments. The union government's share amounts to Rs 817.80 crore while the state's share is Rs 817.20 crore

Updated On: 09 Dec 2024 | 11:09 PM IST

The CM said this is not the first time the union home minister has attempted to mislead Parliament and the public regarding the landslide

Updated On: 09 Dec 2024 | 8:22 PM IST

However, the southern state is not keen to have any big industries which will cause pollution and ecological damage, the minister said

Updated On: 08 Dec 2024 | 4:36 PM IST

The saffron party said that the Narendra Modi government has provided sufficient funds to Kerala through the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and the the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF)

Updated On: 08 Dec 2024 | 3:26 PM IST

Queries also included how much amount was there in the relief fund before the disaster, how much was available for use out of it and what portion of the amount allocated by the Centre was utilised

Updated On: 06 Dec 2024 | 2:45 PM IST

Kerala CM pointed out that as per the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, it is necessary to create a situation where there are no new cases of the disease by 2030, which will happen soon

Updated On: 01 Dec 2024 | 1:41 PM IST

The project timeline has been extended by five years, taking into account things such as the Covid-19 pandemic and natural disasters such as the Ockhi cyclone, and floods

Updated On: 28 Nov 2024 | 1:19 PM IST

The state cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, approved the draft supplementary concession agreement

Updated On: 27 Nov 2024 | 10:03 PM IST

CM said that several reminders, including a unanimous resolution passed by the assembly, were sent by the state government to the Centre

Updated On: 09 Nov 2024 | 1:22 PM IST

Chief Minister Vijayan said that it was apparent that they had not got any training or imparted with awareness of safe working near railway tracks

Updated On: 05 Nov 2024 | 1:52 PM IST

He further said that the VGF was a financial support mechanism that was introduced to encourage Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in infrastructure projects

Updated On: 01 Nov 2024 | 4:18 PM IST

The VGF is invariably provided as a grant, not a loan and its defining elements are that "the payment to the concessionaire is non-repayable, it is a one-time grant and that it is over the

Updated On: 01 Nov 2024 | 11:46 AM IST

He also called upon the people of the state to embrace humanistic values that transcend religious, caste, and regional differences

Updated On: 01 Nov 2024 | 10:33 AM IST

Three persons including two temple committee officials were arrested in connection with the incident on Tuesday after a case was registered under the Explosive Substance Act and various sections

Updated On: 30 Oct 2024 | 1:05 PM IST

The opposition Congress-led UDF had targeted Vijayan over his Malappuram remarks

Updated On: 25 Oct 2024 | 1:35 PM IST

Terming Babu as an honest and good officer, Sudhakaran alleged that the government was dragging its feet on investigating the matter

Updated On: 20 Oct 2024 | 10:05 AM IST

Pinarayi Vijayan government backtracked from its earlier decision to provide darshan only through online registration

Updated On: 15 Oct 2024 | 1:29 PM IST